Nintendo Fell Behind Schedule in 2017
A new report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that Nintendo is interested in partnering with more mobile developers for new smartphone games after falling behind schedule in 2017.
Nintendo and mobile game developer, DeNA, originally planned in 2015 to release five smartphone games by March 2017. With the year now winding down, only four games have been released thus far: Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.
Nintendo hopes that, by collaborating with more software developers in addition to DeNA, they’ll be able to push out more titles at a steady pace.
According to the report, one of those new developers is GungHo, the makers of “Puzzle & Dragons.” Despite a GungHo spokeswoman declining that talks with Nintendo haven’t occurred, they have already released versions of “Puzzles & Dragons” on the 3DS eShop in the past and was even allowed to use characters from the Mario franchise. The company is also developing games for the Switch.
The report doesn’t delver further into what other developers Nintendo may be seeking out but this business strategy certainly shows initiative from a company that, in the past, refused to bring their games to mobile devices. The fact that they are interested in increasing their output of games proves that it’s an important and lucrative part of their business.
How do you feel about the big N pushing more games out into the crowded mobile market? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.